Good Riddance: What We Are Leaving Behind in 2025

This year has been...well, a lot. There’s plenty we don’t care to revisit. But beyond the tragedy and heartbreak that has played out across the globe,  we’ve all had our personal highs and lows.

So before we turn the calendar page to 2026, we asked Persistent contributors to tell us what habits and mindsets they are saying good riddance to.

Take a read, then tell us yours!

What I hope to leave behind is the very bad habit of getting lost in an Instagram scroll before bedtime, which sometimes turns into a two-hour deep dive, leaving me bleary eyed, wrung out and deprived of sleep. My new motto: Must limit self to one cat or cute toddler video only.
— Paula Derrow, features editor

Recently, someone told me to “stop saying sorry for everyone!” I realize my sorry reflex is really a defense mechanism in case anyone or anything in my orbit (including me!) doesn’t quite measure up. Of course, this constant apologizing gets in the way of the good, by assuming reflexively that everything is bad. I guess this is a long way of saying, so long, sorries! It’s been fun, but you have to go. 
— Francesca Donner, editor-in-chief 

I’m letting go of a lot from 2025: This year was a period  of mega disruption for me. After 20 years of being a foreign correspondent, I quit my job to be closer to my parents. I started writing for The Persistent and continue to align with my new landscape. My life right now is still configuring.
— Rupam Jain, contributing writer

I would love to leave my anxiety behind. I’ve always been a worrier but this year, middle of the night anxiety spirals have stolen too many hours from me.
—Kathleen Davis, executive editor

I am trying to consciously disengage from the growing cacophony of expectations around how women’s bodies “should” look. I will not be distracted from better things to think about all this noise.
—Karolin Schnoor, illustrator

I’m leaving behind bad coffee. With so many talented baristas in the world, there is just no place for it. I simply won't drink anything substandard anymore. Until I have to, and then I probably will. But I will not be happy. 
— Gabriella Griffith, contributing writer

I'm leaving my blind ambition. I no longer hunger for something that feeds only me. I want to make progress for the sake of the world and my community, not for the sake of progress itself.
— Han Goldstein, social media editor

What are you saying good riddance to as 2025 ends? Send your thoughts to hello@thepersistent.com. We’ll be back with more recommendations next Friday!